Plans to excavate in capital dug up

A large-scale digging project is taking place in the capital in seeming direct contradiction of a longstanding government ban on the practice, a letter obtained by The Post and first-hand observation by reporters suggests. In the letter dated February 17, Phnom Penh City Governor Pa Socheatvong informs Por Sen Chey district authorities that the municipality has granted permission to a woman named Kem Sotheary to remove soil from an area of Prey Roieng village. The approval comes after a February 2 request by Sotheary for permission to sell and deliver soil. Sotheary was one of two people swept up in a Ministry of Mines and Energy crackdown last September after she was seen illegally digging in Por Sen Chey district.

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